


i’ll be your guide

by eggosandxmen



Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Autistic Adam Maitland, Autistic Beetlejuice, Autistic Lydia Deetz, F slur, F/M, Fighting, Jock Barbara Maitland, Marching Band, Trans Adam Maitland, Trans Beetlejuice
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-03 18:25:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19469608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eggosandxmen/pseuds/eggosandxmen
Summary: Two ghosts, a demon, and a breather can’t get into too much trouble in universes not exactly their own, can they?(Drabbles in set in AUs and and canon divergence about Adam, Barbara, Beetlejuice, and Lydia!)





	i’ll be your guide

**Author's Note:**

> Adam Maitland is a quads player for the school’s marching band. Barbara Maitland is a football and baseball player. They’ve accidentally adopted two whole children.
> 
> There’s no way this can go wrong.

Barbara’s letterman jacket fit comfortably around Adam’s shoulders, the baseball team’s logo fraying on the shoulders.

Most people said he was insane for wearing a jacket in the beginning of marching season, but the sweat was worth it. 

He assembled his quads on autopilot, glancing around at his section. He had been given the section leader job as a welcome chance to work on his drumming and help the younger kids- there weren’t too many this year, just a couple of sophomores joining in late. The freshman class was small, maybe fifteen new recruits, and Adam gave himself a chance to breathe, pulling on his quads and walking out the stage door back into the music room.

The saxophones were already outside, flutes strapping their lyres to their arms, trumpets cracking rude jokes at him while he stumbles along.

He’s nearly made it to the door when he gets tackled, a large mass of teenager jumping on his back and hugging him there.

“Maitland, my man, it is so good to see ya, it’s been hell-“

The younger boy drops off his back and Adam turns to look at him, sighing fondly. “Hi, B.”

One of the sophomores, Adam had only slightly unhappily taken Beej under his wing during his junior year, when the boy was still a freshman who could barely lift his sousaphone. Nowadays, he’s a bit stronger, just as much of a dumbass, and ever so slightly more endearing. His hair had been dyed bright green by Adam a few months ago, and the roots were quickly washing out, dark brown clear at his hairline, and his clothes reeked. 

Nonetheless, it was good to see him, and Adam smiled, the two of them walking side-by-side out to the field.

“It’s been like a week, Beej. You’re acting like it’s been eons.”

“Is it so wrong for me to miss a friend?” he grinned, hands fidgeting with his valves. “C’mon, Adam, admit it, you missed me.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “Maybe a little. How’re things going with your mom?”

Beej sighed, grip tightening on his instrument. “You know how she is.”

(Still calling him the wrong name after he had been out to her for years, refusing to use Adam’s real name, making Beej stop stimming whenever he became upset: just as Juno has always been, Adam thought bitterly.) 

Their director blew his whistle and Adam waved to Beej as he sprinted off to the lower brass section, swearing as sheets of his music flew out of his flipbook.

Adam walked back to his own line, counting out beats in his head carefully as the director screamed the cadence number.

Damn, it was good to be back.

Marching took a solid forty minutes before the director let them go, Beej catching up to Adam as they walked back into the music room. “There’s a freshie I think we should keep an eye on, you n’ me, yeah?”

Adam looked at him sideways, pulling off his harness. “Which one? Why?”

“Trumpet, short, all black, choppy hair. Was stimmin’, one of her leaders made fun of her and she looked like she was gonna start sobbing.”

Adam sighed. “Point her out?”

Beej does, jutting his chin out to the right of them. 

A short girl, definitely a freshman, packing up her trumpet and giving a nervous look to the other members of her section before pushing her instrument into their closet and picking up her backpack, walking quickly out of the room.

Adam sighs.

He had adopted a whole kid already, and now he’s gunning for two? Barbara’ll be furious.

(No, she won’t.)

-

Lydia kicked her legs against the stands, shivering in her polo as the football team’s quarterback- number eight, Butterfield, according to her jersey- throws yet another touch down.

They start up a fight song and the crowd roars. After they finish the tune, Lydia folds in on herself, stimming as best she can- squeaking and whining, clutching her trumpet to her chest.

The boy next to her gives her a dirty look. “Could you just please shut the fuck up?”

She looks away, blinking hard, hoping no one had heard-

And then the boy with the sousaphone, two rows down, gets up and calmly throws up a middle finger at the other trumpet.

Lydia’s sectionmate snarls, getting up as the buzzer sounds to finish the game, the entire band standing up to jump around and scream.

Lydia slips out and catches a glimpse of one of the quad players running down to the football field, lifting up the quarterback and spinning her around, kissing her softly on the lips.

And then, without a second of warning, the sousaphone and the other trumpet tumble down the stands, landing in a violent heap next to her.

“You fuckig faggot!” the trumpet player spits, landing a right hook on the sousaphone’s nose, and the pinned boy spits up blood, struggling to get free.

Lydia shrieks.

And then there’s a strong pair of arms around her, pulling her away from the fight as the quarterback- helmet back on- jumps into the fray, pulling off Lydia’s section leader and grabbing the sousaphone’s hand, running towards Lydia and her savior.

She looks up to find the quad player from earlier giving her a worried look, letting go as they reach the parking lot. “Are you alright?”

Lydia hums a little, words slipping from her grasp, and the quad nods. “Okay, that’s good. My name is Adam, by the way, do you need a ride home?”

Lydia’s dad is working, and Delia’s out cold by now, and-

Lydia nods.

The quarterback and the sousaphone reach them, panting. “Babe, let’s go, he’s not gonna stay down long.”

Adam nods, pulling car keys out of his jean pockets. “Okay, kid, we’re getting out of here.”

The sousaphone waves at Lydia, smiling with bloody teeth. “Hey, I’m Beej. Sorry to freak you out, but that guy’s a dick. That’s Barb, our knight in football pads around here.”

The girl waves, pulling off her helmet to reveal curly brown hair and a soft smile. “My name’s Barbara, it’s really nice to meet you.”

They reach Adam’s car- a beat-up old heap- and like inside, Barbara taking shotgun and Beej and Lydia squishing between instrument cases and stacks of wood and hardware in the back.

Adam pulls out of the school parking lot in silence, turning to Lydia as they get on the road. “Do you have to be home right now?”

She shakes her head and Barbara grins. “You wanna hang out for a while? I know you just met us, but this is sort of a tradition.”

Lydia finds herself nodding eagerly, texting her dad that the game is running a bit late.

-

They end up in a second-hand movie theater, and the others are polite enough to let Lydia pick the film- she goes with Blair Witch, flapping happily before she catches Adam staring and shoves her hands into her pockets.

Adam shakes his head. “Keep going, it's all good. I love to see happy stims.”

-

Halfway through the film, Lydia’s voice comes back enough for her to say thank you and tell them her name. 

Beej shrugs. “No trouble, babes. Fighting bastards is sort of what I do. I’m the sousaphonist with the mostest, if you know what I mean.”

Adam throws popcorn at him.

-

Lydia feels warm when she gets home, happy and safe enough to give Barbara and Adam hugs and Beej a high five when they get to her driveway, Adam waiting patiently as she opens the door and runs in, trumpet case banging against her leg.

Friends, for the first time in a very long time.

She can do this.

**Author's Note:**

> HI THIS IS MY DRABBLE SERIES THIS AU WAS MADE BY BLIND-BAND-GEEK I LOVE HER SUPPORT HER AAA


End file.
